


Falling in Love at the Coffee Shop

by alwaysgocrazy



Series: Love Through Song [5]
Category: Stitchers (TV)
Genre: Cute, F/M, Fluff, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2015-11-24
Packaged: 2018-05-03 03:17:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5274548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alwaysgocrazy/pseuds/alwaysgocrazy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coffee shop AU based off the song by Landon Pigg. Kirsten and Cameron meet in a local coffee shop where they have an interesting relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling in Love at the Coffee Shop

**Author's Note:**

> I tried sticking to the song as much as I could but then went on a tangent and then didn't know how to tie it all back together without making it a five thousand word piece. Hope you all like it anyway!

He sat at a table in the old coffee shop he always went to. He had his laptop opened and a mug of coffee next to him, a small pot next it for refills.

A blonde girl caught his eye. He had never seen her before. Maybe she just transferred over to UCLA; the semester had just started. He watched her go up to the counter and order an iced coffee. He smirked, admiring the look of confusion she had when the barista said they didn’t serve that until ten.

The girl groaned. “Black coffee, then.” She fumbled with her wallet in search of some cash. She paid then turned to find a seat. The shop was filled, like normal, on a Monday morning. She walked up to Cameron and asked, “Do you mind if I sit here?”

He shook his head and began to move his things. “No. No, not at all.” He placed some books and papers onto the empty seat next to him to make tablespace for the other. “What’s your name?” he asked.

“Kirsten.” She was pulling out her own laptop and began typing. “Yours?”

“Cameron.” He picked up the mug and sipped on it. He could tell Kirsten wasn’t a talker but rather blunt. It was awkward. He went back to working on his term paper.

A waitress came over with Kirsten’s coffee: a small pot and cup just like all other drinks were presented. Cameron admired the confused on her. “That’s just how they do things here,” he explained. He watched her shrug and pour the coffee then drink it straight with no sugar or cream.

He tried his best not to stare, but she was so beautiful, so unique. He could tell she was unique and different just from the three minutes they had spent together. He sighed, sipping on his coffee and trying to focus back on his paper.

***

Kirsten became a regular. She was either there when Cameron arrived or came a few minutes after him. They always shared a table, even when there were other seats in the café. Did they talk much? No. But the company they provided each other with was enough. One day, Kirsten hacked into Cameron’s computer and sent him a message through Skype. It was innocent, but it made him nervous that she was able to get in, add herself as a friend, and then get a message to pop up large on his screen.

He smiled. The message read: “I can see you staring.” He decided to respond back with: “Yeah, at my computer screen.” He glanced up and saw Kirsten rolling her eyes.

“Whatever,” she typed back. “I trust that you’re not some creepy guy.”

“You’re the one who hacked my computer!!”

“Like it’s hard. You have next to no protection on it. A basic firewall isn’t going to do much.”

“Yeah? And what about you? I’m sure someone could hack into your stuff.”

“Nope. My things are unhackable.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“Try. If you can get in, I’ll give you fifty bucks.”

Cameron looked up from the screen. He raised his eyebrows. “Is that a challenge?” he said aloud.

“Yes. If you hack into my laptop and can pull something from it to prove you did, then I will give you fifty dollars,” she responded.

“Challenge accepted. Time limit?”

“One month. Starting tomorrow, you’ve got one month.”

“Deal.” He extended a hand to shake to confirm the deal.

Once sealed, Kirsten stood. “Gotta run. Good luck.”

***

He had two days left. Kirsten started sitting on the other side of the coffee shop. Cameron could only assume that was so he didn’t cheat or something.

He was so close to getting in. Each day, he got one step closer. Finally, her screen popped up on his. He smiled wide. He went into her files to find something a bit secretive but not too secretive. He found a folder titled “Cameron.” Confused and curious, he clicked it. There was only one document in it. He clicked that. It opened up, reading:

“Nice try, Stud. Thought you could get through? I turned off my firewall. How is that the thing you couldn’t get through? That’s the easiest! I had more faith in you. Anyway. Good try.”

He looked up from his laptop and glared over at Kirsten who was smiling. He received a Skype message from her saying, “Better luck next time?”

“Sure, Stretch. ‘Better luck next time,” he responded, now smiling to himself.

He watched her and saw the large grin on her face. She closed her laptop and gathered her things and put them in her bag. She gave Cameron a small wave as she walked out.

***

Cameron lied in bed, thinking about the coffee shop. It just would not leave him alone. He thought about the coffee, the scent, the atmosphere, the warmth, everything. He had grown to love it so much more. Kirsten was the one responsible for that. He hated the days she didn’t show. He was falling hard for a girl he barely knew.

He reached over to the side and grabbed his laptop. He opened the screen to see Kirsten online. A smile appeared on his face. He clicked her name and began typing. “Why are you up at the ungodly hours?”

“Because I have an exam tomorrow and I’m studying. What’s your excuse?” she replied.

“Can’t sleep.”

“So you decide to distract me. Thank you.”

He chuckled softly. “I can leave you alone if you’re really studying. I don’t mean to bother.”

“It’s fine. I was just wrapping up.”

Cameron’s heart fluttered when she sent that. He smiled wide and typed, “Cool. What do you want to talk about?”

“You,” Kirsten responded simply. Another message followed shortly after. “Tell me about your life. How did you grow up? What’s your family like? Why’d you choose neuroscience?”

“You need to slow down there, Buttercup,” typed Cameron. He then proceeded to answer his questions. “I honestly grew up in hospitals and doctors’ offices. I got a heart transplant when I was ten, so prior to that, I really didn’t have much of a life. My parents homeschooled me for as long as they could, but once in seventh grade, the let me go to real school. It was a small junior-senior high school called Linsmere. They thought it would be good because there was more focus on arts and academics rather than athletics. They never let me do anything remotely close to athletics. No running, no swimming, nothing that could stress my heart. It wasn’t that great…”

He hit send before he could take it back. He tapped his fingers on his laptop as he waited for Kirsten’s response. He hoped she didn’t take it as a “Feel guilty for me because I had a rough childhood!” sort of way. That’s not how he meant it. And the more he read over it, the more he thought that’s what it sounded like.

But her message surprised him. “That sucks. It seems like you have more freedom now, though. You can do what you want versus what your parents want you to do.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He smiled at the screen. “What’s your story?”

“You’ve gotta tell me why neuroscience first.”

A soft snort escaped. “The brain is just…fascinating. It’s like…it’s curious about itself. It wants to be able to understand what it actually is. And there are so many connections inside it that the potential it has is virtually endless. You just have to find the right piece.”

“Maybe you can find a way to fix me,” she replied.

“What do you need fixing? You seem to be fine.”

There was a long pause for her response. The typing icon didn’t go away. Finally, a message came through.

“I have temporal dysplasia. Basically, I have no concept of time. If that’s not bad enough, it also effects my emotions. I don’t know what emotions feel like. I had to learn them through flash cards and pictures. I’m twenty-four years old and still don’t know what happiness or sadness feels like. My guardian passed away a few months ago and I didn’t feel anything. I’ve had it for as long as I can remember. So I guess you could say growing up was rough because I was always the weird kid who was blunt and straightforward. So, Mr. Neuroscience, think you can fix me?”

Damn. He hadn’t even heard of temporal dysplasia before and now he was chatting with a girl who had to grow up with it. “Give me a minute,” he typed. He opened up a new web browser and searched for the disorder. There it was. He clicked on Wikipedia (acknowledging that it was a poor source but decent for basic information) and read about it. It said there had only been three cases ever diagnosed worldwide but didn’t list names. Kirsten must’ve been one of the three.

“That really sucks,” he typed. “I can see what I can do. Maybe get you an MRI and analyze it.”

“Too many doctors have done that. I just need someone that can help me with emotions.”

“I could help you find a therapist?”

He was clearly not picking up on her cue.

“Shrinks are pointless. I can’t tell them how I feel when I don’t know what the hell I’m feeling.”

“So…you want a friend?”

There it is.

“Yes.”

The messaging stopped. They were on pause. Cameron stared at his computer for a good five minutes before responding. “Meet me at the coffee shop tomorrow. We can talk more then.” He wanted to talk more now, but this was too much information to process at once. He logged off and placed his laptop to the side, thinking over what just happened.

***

Kirsten walked into the little coffee shop at eight o’clock sharp. Cameron was already on the couch sipping on a cup of coffee when she entered. He smiled, patting a seat down next to him.

“I ordered you some black coffee already. I told them to make it fresh because it was getting cold,” he explained.

“How long have you been here waiting?” she asked.

“Not long. I got here at 7:45-ish.”

“Why so early?”

“I didn’t want you waiting for me.”

“You say to a girl who has no concept of time.”

Cameron chuckled softly. God, Kirsten would be the death of him. He stared into her hazel eyes; their color seemed to match the color of his own coffee. He looked away when a waitress came up with a small pot and mug for Kirsten.

Kirsten thanked her and poured herself a glass before sipping. “So…”

“So…”

“Tell me, Neuroscientist…what are emotions?”

Great conversation starter. Cameron sighed with a smile. “Emotions vary. Sometimes they hurt, sometimes they’re warm, and sometimes they’re both. Instead of diving head-first into the broadest thing ever, why don’t you just tell describe one thing you’ve been feeling?”

Kirsten thought for a moment, looking into blank space. “I feel…warm and comforted here. I don’t know how else to describe it. I’m calm, relaxed, content…” She shrugged. “That’s all I’ve really got.”

“Contentment is an emotion to some degree,” Cameron said.

“What about that feeling I get when I’m around you?” she blurted out, no regrets. “That feeling that makes my heart speed up, my hands shake, and my cheeks red?”

Cameron stared at her. _Does she not know what love is? What love feels like? Does she not even recognize that I’m the exact same way around her?_ He was glad she had no concept of time because he was staring at her for a period too long for most people’s comfort. He swallowed thickly before saying, “Well…that-that’s, um…that’s what I think love—or, or ‘like’ is.”

A small grin appeared on her face. “Yeah?”

Cameron nodded, knowing his face was red, his hands were shaking, and his heart was racing.

“So, you love me,” Kirsten stated with a smirk. “I can see your face right now. And I’m sure if I grabbed your hands”—she took one into her own—“they would be shaking. And if I pressed my hand to your chest”—she used her left hand to do so—“your heart would be beating out of your chest.” She smiled kindly, feeling all of what she described happening to Cameron. “Am I right?”

Again, Cameron swallowed. “Y-you’re not wrong,” he said softly.

She smiled, lifting her hand that was on his chest up to his cheek to which he rested into. “Well…I’m glad,” she whispered, “because even though I’m not good with emotions, I can finally say I know what one feels like and that I quite like it.”

Cameron squeezed her hand. He leaned in and rested their foreheads together. “So, you love me too?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Skippy,” she teased, closing her eyes. “I don’t know if I love you, but I know that I definitely like you more than I’ve ever liked anyone in my life.”

He closed the small gap left between them, pressing his lips gently against hers. He tasted the bitter black coffee that she loved so much along with some cherry Chapstick.

All of the while, it was Kirsten who made him love the coffee shop so much.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, loves!
> 
> Kudos, comments, and critiques are always welcomed and greatly appreciated c:


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